In preparing for the greatest day of your life, you want to make every moment of it something to remember. But does this mean that you should include every moment in your wedding video? How long should a wedding video be, realistically?
Well, not necessarily. Wedding videos can vary dramatically depending on what type of wedding video you’re trying to make. Let’s take a look at several major types of wedding videos and what should be included in each of them, and this will provide a better idea of what you should include and what kind of length you should shoot for.
Highlights
If you just want to throw together highlights from your special day – make a “trailer” of sorts – then your video should only be a few minutes long. You can cut and paste individual moments – lifting the veil, cutting the cake, throwing the garter belt… and wrap it up with beautiful music and some smooth transitions to create the perfect little “summary” of your day. A highlights video can be anywhere in the range of 3-10 minutes.
Individual parts
You might want to create short videos based upon individual components of the wedding. For example, you can create a clip about the bride getting ready for the ceremony. Or perhaps just focus on the reception. Any aspect of the wedding that you want to preserve as a separate part can be made into a short video. These are usually about 10 minutes long.
A documentary-style video
In answering the question of how long are wedding videos, the answer is, it depends. If you want to create a whole “movie” about how you and your beloved got together, you can piece together clips from the wedding day along with footage from the past. You might have to dig a bit to come up with the right videos, but if you have them then it could be a fun way to put together a whole piece on how you got together. You can then incorporate the raw footage wedding video together with the old stuff.
These kinds of videos can vary significantly in length depending on how detailed of a story you want to tell. They can be anywhere from 15 minutes (if you just want to give a nutshell version) to an hour if you want to go into family histories, the details of how you met, etc.
Factors to take into consideration
Before you decide on what type of video to make for your wedding, you should think about a number of things: first, who do you want to share your video with? If the answer is close friends, they might be interested in seeing a longer version with more “historical” footage in it (some of which they might even be in!).
You might want to create a short video to send out to your guests afterwards; a party gift, if you will. These should also be among the shorter-length videos. It all depends on your audience, your purpose for sharing, and the message you want to convey.
The other thing to remember is that this should be a truly professional job. While you might have a relative that likes shooting videos from his phone, it pays to enlist the services of a professional. You can outsource wedding video editing and come up with a truly professional-quality product.
Remember, your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and capturing those key moments is important. Don’t leave your video and editing up to chance, only trust professionals. Consider both big and small wedding video and editing companies, so you can find the right fit for your budget.
Don’t limit yourself
You may very well want to create more than one video on your special day. You could have a longer-length piece to save as a keepsake, and one or more shorter ones to share with others, for example.
If you plan correctly and come prepared, your special day will remain memorable in every way you want it to be.
Make the length your own
It all depends on you. Again, there are different types of wedding videos for different purposes. The best wedding videos are those that come from the heart, so it pays to sit down and think carefully about what it is that you really want to do. And consult a professional to refine your thoughts. The average wedding video length applies to the type you choose, but these are just estimations. After all, it’s YOUR day to encapsulate and remember.
Comments are closed.